Friday, July 17, 2009

Bingoboys - The Best Of Bingoboys (1991)

The title of the Bingoboys debut album is misleading, because they had not released any material prior in order to have a "Best Of". But their debut single, "How To Dance" was indeed a hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Dance charts and other charts across the world. The Bingoboys consisted on three DJs from Austria: Klaus Biedermann, Paul Pfab, and Helmut Wolfgruber. They obviously had a taste for hip-house music, and over their danceable beats they enlisted the voice of American rapper Princessa. "How To Dance" combined her raps with house beats and extensive samples, from other songs as well as soundbites from instructional recordings. The rest of the album follows suit, though Princessa is occasionally replaced by other vocalists like Two Deadly Elements, Papa Linley, and Melissa Bell, who sings on a reimagining of Gino Soccio's disco classic "Dancer". The most notable vocalist is Arnold Jarvis, who sings on a remake of the SOS Band's "Borrowed Love," which also features Princessa. It was also released as a single and even dented the Billboard Pop top 100. This wasn't success enough for their label Atlantic, however, and they were dropped after releasing a third unsuccessful single, "No Woman No Cry", which owes more to Salt 'N' Pepa's "Push It" than the Bob Marley song of the same name. They did manage to record and release another album on WEA in Europe in 1994, however, entitled Color Of Music. Princessa was replaced with singer Vivian Sessoms. But the album and it's singles made little impact and they officially split soon after. All three men have remained active in the music scene, but nothing has been heard from Princessa again. Pity.

UPDATE: Once again, Consolecharlie comes to the rescue! His investigating uncovered that Princessa may be Pauline Bennett, who also went by the moniker of Jazzi P, an almost cult figure in the Kylie community as she did a guest rap on a remix of Kylie's "Shocked" and appeared in the video in 1991. Also in 1991, she appeared on the single "Rebel Woman" by DNA and "Fungi Rhythm" by Vinegar. The year before that she released her own house single, "Feel The Rhythm" (a personal fave), but she first emerged in 1989 on LA Mix's dance hit "Get Loose". I must confess to having my doubts as to Princessa and Jazzi P being the same person, however, as I have to question why she would use two different monikers in the same year, and she doesn't mention Princessa on her Starnow profile, which is strange considering "How To Dance" was her biggest success. The two ladies do sound alike, but if you compare Pauline's Starnow pic to Princessa in the video, they don't look entirely alike. But hopefully it is true, and if not, I welcome the excuse to talk about Jazzi P! ;)

As usual, you're awesome. Though I question most Wikipedia entries...she doesn't mention anything about her work as Princessa on her starnow profile, though the two DO look and sound alike (I have Jazzi P's "Feel The Rhythm" and her song with Kylie. ;) But I'll update the post. Thanks again!

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